Yesterday I attended London Business School's 'Global Leadership Summit' 2014, titled "Generation Tech: The Impact on Global Business".
There were fantastic speakers, thoughtful insights, and highly engaged and energised audience.
And I hope to write about all of those in due time.
In the meantime however, thanks to Professor Costas Markides for this share.
Digital may affect many things... but not everything.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Monday, 23 June 2014
On the 'usefulness' of marketing
Interesting piece here by Sean Hargrave on Media Post about Paddy Power being the first winner in the World Cup, by linking up with ITV and providing snapshots of key goals.
In summary:
"digital moves the game along from shouting about how great you are to truly understanding the customer and being useful. [my italics]"
It is true that digital -- when done in the grown up way -- is about more than shouting, it's about understanding and utility.
When I first started building sites and other digital communications, I remember our mantra 'if it's not easier than what it's replacing, it just won't be used.'
But the digital world shouldn't pat itself on the back too much -- it's not the first marketing channel to talk about usefulness, just the most recent.
Take PR at its core. It's not just fluffy parties and puff pieces (though of course that exists). And when done correctly, it's also not "shouting about how great you are" to a journalist and hoping they'll believe you and write something.
At its best, it combines an understanding of the customer (aka, 'public') and how to relate your client's offering to their need.
For example: take a national chicken farmers association (yep, a real client). Did they simply send out press releases saying "Chicken is great, eat it!!!!!" and hope for the best? No, they used customer research to understand most people know that already -- what they want to know is how to cook it, and cook it differently, so they're not eating the same 'chipper chicken' every night.
So we had recipes, contests, chicken tours... you get the picture. Not earth shattering or super groundbreaking. But useful. And pre-digital.
Fancy that.
In summary:
"digital moves the game along from shouting about how great you are to truly understanding the customer and being useful. [my italics]"
It is true that digital -- when done in the grown up way -- is about more than shouting, it's about understanding and utility.
When I first started building sites and other digital communications, I remember our mantra 'if it's not easier than what it's replacing, it just won't be used.'
But the digital world shouldn't pat itself on the back too much -- it's not the first marketing channel to talk about usefulness, just the most recent.
Take PR at its core. It's not just fluffy parties and puff pieces (though of course that exists). And when done correctly, it's also not "shouting about how great you are" to a journalist and hoping they'll believe you and write something.
At its best, it combines an understanding of the customer (aka, 'public') and how to relate your client's offering to their need.
For example: take a national chicken farmers association (yep, a real client). Did they simply send out press releases saying "Chicken is great, eat it!!!!!" and hope for the best? No, they used customer research to understand most people know that already -- what they want to know is how to cook it, and cook it differently, so they're not eating the same 'chipper chicken' every night.
So we had recipes, contests, chicken tours... you get the picture. Not earth shattering or super groundbreaking. But useful. And pre-digital.
Fancy that.
Should you do a digital detox?
It seems like every day there's a new story about the harmfulness of today's digital world, with social media often being singled out as the worst:
Facebook is bad for you - Get a life! says the Economist
Teens are reading less, says Time, "most easily explained by technological advances"
Nearly 6 years ago Nicolas Carr asked in The Atlantic "Is Google Making Us Stupid".
And just today, NPR asked for listeners' stories of digital detoxing attempts -- how, not if, because clearly everyone knows such a detox is needed.
So why did Richard Dennen's piece in Sunday's You Magazine, "Note to selfie: #I must give up social media" catch my eye?
In the article he reveals a bet he's made with a friend that he could give up social media "no Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter -- for a whole month.
He then references common concerns about social media, in particular the addictive nature and the 'detachment' from our real selves that comes from only presenting your more 'perfect' version to the world, and spending more time looking at a screen than being 'in the moment'.
Yep, stuff I've seen before, same story, different publication. And -- full disclosure -- things I've tried to be conscious of myself. I've laughed at myself for being excited about the number of 'likes' I've received for a single post, or deliberated at length over just the right filter.
But in the end what I appreciated most was that he (spoiler alert!) LOST THE BET. He gave up 48 hours in. And even better, he had no shame about doing so. There was no rapture over the brilliance of even the 48 'quiet' hours he'd had. Just acceptance.
I loved the honesty, and hey, I'd be posting selfies as well if I made it to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards after party. Congrats, @richarddennen, you've got a new follower - so keep those selfies coming, I won't mind. (and if you want to know when I get around to alphabetizing my lipsticks, just feel free to follow me back, I wouldn't want you to feel left out!)
Npr - http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/06/23/324892657/digital-detox-step-one-step-away-from-the-phone
Facebook is bad for you - Get a life! says the Economist
Teens are reading less, says Time, "most easily explained by technological advances"
Nearly 6 years ago Nicolas Carr asked in The Atlantic "Is Google Making Us Stupid".
And just today, NPR asked for listeners' stories of digital detoxing attempts -- how, not if, because clearly everyone knows such a detox is needed.
So why did Richard Dennen's piece in Sunday's You Magazine, "Note to selfie: #I must give up social media" catch my eye?
In the article he reveals a bet he's made with a friend that he could give up social media "no Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter -- for a whole month.
He then references common concerns about social media, in particular the addictive nature and the 'detachment' from our real selves that comes from only presenting your more 'perfect' version to the world, and spending more time looking at a screen than being 'in the moment'.
Yep, stuff I've seen before, same story, different publication. And -- full disclosure -- things I've tried to be conscious of myself. I've laughed at myself for being excited about the number of 'likes' I've received for a single post, or deliberated at length over just the right filter.
But in the end what I appreciated most was that he (spoiler alert!) LOST THE BET. He gave up 48 hours in. And even better, he had no shame about doing so. There was no rapture over the brilliance of even the 48 'quiet' hours he'd had. Just acceptance.
I loved the honesty, and hey, I'd be posting selfies as well if I made it to the Vanity Fair Academy Awards after party. Congrats, @richarddennen, you've got a new follower - so keep those selfies coming, I won't mind. (and if you want to know when I get around to alphabetizing my lipsticks, just feel free to follow me back, I wouldn't want you to feel left out!)
Npr - http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/06/23/324892657/digital-detox-step-one-step-away-from-the-phone
Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2662764/Note-selfie-I-social-media.html#comments
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